


"What was he like?"

by schaadenfreude



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 14:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10413909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schaadenfreude/pseuds/schaadenfreude
Summary: the guys answer the question everyone always asks them: what was Noctis really like? minor ending spoilers, kind of?





	

**Q: What was King Noctis really like?**

_[Gladiolus and Prompto exchange looks that are both amused and melancholic; Ignis smirks.]_

Ignis: He refused to eat carrots or tomatoes. Or any kind of vegetable, really. I had to get _very_ creative whenever I made food for him.

Gladiolus: I know for a fact that he couldn’t stand the taste of coffee. He only ever drank it in public, because it made him seem more grown-up.

Prompto: He was a huge sucker for animals. And kids.

Gladiolus _[laughing]_ : That’s you, Prompto.

Prompto: Him too! Don’t you remember how he was the first one to make friends with all the chocobos? They loved him best. Anytime he sat down when we made camp, they practically climbed in his lap, all four of them.

Gladiolus: He really liked fishing, too. _Really_ liked fishing.

Prompto: Gave us a few good meals!

Ignis: And it was the only reason he’d voluntarily get up early in the day.

Gladiolus: Yeah, anytime he was stationary for more than ten minutes, he was out like a light. Earthquake wouldn’t wake him up, either.

Prompto: That guy could fall asleep anywhere. Remember the time he curled up on the Regalia’s dashboard? You made a bet with him he couldn’t do it. But he did.

Gladiolus _[to Prompto]_ : Do you still have the video of when we stacked a bunch of books and drink cans on him?

Prompto _[offended]_ : Why would I ever get _rid_ of that video?

Ignis: Your hard drive contains many an amusing and embarrassing shot of Noct. He was only graceful because of all the combat training; left to his own devices, he would have been a klutz.

Gladiolus: Left to his own devices, he might never have gotten out of bed.

Ignis: Duty weighed heavily on him. I doubt there was a time in his life he didn’t struggle with depression. His father tried to give him as normal an upbringing as possible, but Noct tried to be both at once – be a normal person and the Prince – and that was too much.

Prompto: He never did stand on ceremony. Well, he could afford not to. But anytime he had trouble dealing with people, like in school, it wasn’t because he didn’t know how to connect with people across the rank gap. It was because he didn’t know how to connect to people who felt all their emotions. _[Sad laughter]_

Gladiolus: A lot of people said he came off as stuck-up and bratty. When I first met him, I thought he was as snot-nosed a punk as ever walked Eos.

Ignis _[to Gladiolus]_ : You were biased at the start.

Gladiolus: Well, yeah, kinda. But he was never snot-nosed, or even a brat. Regis didn’t spoil him. He didn’t lack for anything material, but there was always so much expectation on him that he always had to earn what he got, in terms of praise and validation. ‘Specially from Regis.

Ignis: His relationship with his father was interesting to observe. They loved each other, cared deeply, but they were never comfortable around each other. Regis hated the heavy burden he would place on Noct’s shoulders; but no one had any choice, so he did whatever he could – whatever he knew how to do – to ensure that Noct would be able to bear it. With mixed success; he wasn’t perfect.  
     Noct craved his father’s approval, but also resented that craving. He formed his entire concept of self-worth around how well he did in his father’s eyes. How well he played the part of a good Prince. At the same time, he hated knowing that, in a very real sense, his life was not his to live.

Prompto: Yeah, that got to him a lot.

Ignis: Under those conditions, it would be easy for a person to develop a liking for playing the victim, but he never did that I saw. If he complained every now and again, well, at least he was finding _some_ outlet for his feelings. In all he did a lot of bottling them up; far more than was healthy.

Prompto _[sadly]_ : Couldn’t stand the thought of being a burden to anyone, even though he had so much on him all the time.

Gadiolus : Yeah, if there was one thing Regis drilled into his head, it was that he had a responsibility to look out for his people. He would’ve, and did, bleed for Lucis. Metaphorically and physically.

_[A heavy pause.]_

Prompto: He was a great guy. _[Looking down at his hands, left holding right wrist.]_ Don’t think I’ll ever not miss him.

Ignis _[quietly]_ : Yeah.

**Author's Note:**

> it ended up being so much of talking heads that i did it screenplay style. and badly, at that. just needed to hammer the ideas out. so have some feels that wouldn't leave me alone, before i return to promptis hell. some of the comments they make are inspired by fanart i've seen floating around tumblr, so if it sounds/seems familiar, that's why


End file.
